NASCAR Power Rankings: Ryan Blaney Powers to Daytona Victory

Ryan Blaney captured the last bit of momentum left up for grabs before the championship playoffs begin next weet at Darlington by powering from 13th to the victory in the final two laps of Saturday night's Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway. It was Blaney's second race win of the season, and it kept the playoff standings static with Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman advancing to the championship battle via points. Saturday's result was Blaney's second win at Daytona and it helped him grab the fourth seed for the playoffs as points for the 16 championship contenders are reset ahead of the 10-race run to the finale. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and William Byron top the table with Josh Berry, Tyler Reddick, Austin Dillon, and Alex Bowman all starting below the cutline. On deck to start the championship run-in is a trip to Darlington and the famous Southern 500. Chase Briscoe is the defending winner of the race, and teammate Denny Hamlin was the victor at the track when the series visited earlier this season. 

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NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings After Daytona

1. William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports No. 24

Last Week: 1

After wrapping up the regular-season championship at Richmond, Byron could use the Daytona race weekend as a no-pressure warm-up race ahead of the playoffs. It was a good thing he claimed the regular-season prize the week before, too. Adjustments to the car after inspection sent him to the rear of the field for the race and resulted in the ejection of crew chief Rudy Fugle for the weekend. Hopefully they learned what they needed because a similar situation during the playoff races could be detrimental to their playoff hopes. Despite Daytona's issues, Byron should be confident entering the elimination races. He is a former Darlington winner and he dominated at the track earlier this season before slipping to the runner-up position for the finish.

2. Ryan Blaney, Team Penske No. 12

Last Week: 3

With two season wins, Blaney heads into the playoffs fourth in the reset standings and with a head full of momentum. His victory Saturday night at Daytona was a win that had been coming for several weeks. In the final six races of the regular season, Blaney finished no worse than eighth and picked up three top-fives, too. This championship format is all about achieving your best form at the right moment, and right now Blaney and the Team Penske No. 12 team have everything going the right direction. As the playoff progress, their challenge will be to maintain that form and ultimately win at Phoenix. Doing so would give Blaney his second series title. Up first is Darlington where Blaney finished fifth earlier this season. That was his best result at the track from 17 career starts.

3. Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports No. 5

Last Week: 4

Larson continues to improve at superspeedways. After spending much of his career struggling to get a handle on the tracks, he has started to show signs of life recently. That growth continued Saturday night at Daytona as he won the first stage and raced within the top five throughout the night. Continuing to do that at those types of tracks is likely to result in a win. Saturday's stage win and points from his sixth-place finish help Larson entering the playoffs as he sits join top of the standings alongside teammate William Byron. Now is the time Larson will be needing those top-10 finishes every week, too. At Darlington, he won in 2023 but dropped out of the race earlier this season with suspension trouble. He and the No. 5 team will have less capacity to absorb DNFs like that in these last 10 races if they hope to race for the title at Phoenix.

4. Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11

Last Week: 2

Hamlin continues his slow walk backward down the power rankings with another disappointing race at Daytona. The four-race winner this season was caught in the race's biggest crash just before the conclusion of the first stage, and then he spent the rest of the night limping a damaged car around the long track. In the end, Hamlin was credited with a 25th-place finish as the last car on the lead lap. As if that wasn't bad enough, that finish was his third finish outside of the top 20 from the last four races, which is not a way he wanted to be entering the 10-race playoff stretch. After the points reset, Hamlin ranks third in the playoff standings and is expected to advance at least through the first round. He and the team need to regain some of their earlier form in order to get all the way to Phoenix, though.

5. Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports No. 9

Last Week: 5

Elliott's 10th-place finish from the 30th starting spot Saturday night at Daytona was exactly what he and the team needed before rolling into the playoffs. The season's most consistent team started showing cracks in the foundation a few weeks ago, and Elliott landed back-to-back finishes outside of the top 20 after recording none all season up until that point. A return to the top-10 in the last regular season race got them back on track in the nick of time, though. Now, with the points reset, Elliott sits seventh in the playoff battle with a clean slate ahead of the next 10 races. A trip to Darlington next week could help build on Saturday's finish, too. Elliott has never won at that track, but he also hasn't finished worse than 12th there in his last five tries. Extending that streak would get Elliott's playoffs started on the right foot.

6. Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19

Last Week: 6

After finishing 23rd at Daytona, Briscoe and team will be hoping the momentum they built as the regular season wound down hasn't left them. Briscoe was recently one of the hottest drivers out there with four top-five finishes from five races including three runner-ups. Daytona's 23rd-place finish marked his second in a row outside of the top 10, which hadn't happened for him in more than a month. The team remains competitive with great equipment, and Briscoe and the team should feel confident of regaining their top finishing form, too. Briscoe is the defending winner of the coming week's race at Darlington and he is much more comfortable with the car and team that he was earlier in the season when he finished 28th there. There could still be great things to come for this team in the playoffs. Briscoe just needs to unlock them.

7. Joey Logano, Team Penske No. 22

Last Week: 8

As expected, Logano was the driver to beat through much of Saturday night's race at Daytona. The former series champion spent a considerable amount of time at the front throughout the race and looked as though he would be the one to beat in the final miles. Logano's habit of finding himself in trouble at the front of the field bit again, though. With roughly 10 laps remaining, Logano lost control coming out of turn 4 and spun out of the lead. The late issue left him down the order in 27th place at the finish despite having led 27 laps. With the points reset for the playoffs, Logano now stands just ahead of the drop zone, which leaves little room for error. Darlington is a good spot for him to get off on the right foot, though. He won there from pole in 2022 and finished eighth in the fall race last season.

8. Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20

Last Week: 7

With the playoffs ahead, Bell continues his search for the consistency he had earlier in the year. His 13th-place finish at Daytona was a decent result to build from and it halted a continued slip backward after a 21st-place finish at Richmond. However, Bell has three finishes outside of the top 10 from the last four races and he hasn't score back-to-back top-10 finishes since late May. The No. 20 team looked to be serious championship contenders back then with regular top-10 finishes and three races wins from the start of the season. That is the form he and the team are hoping to rediscover beginning this week at Darlington. Bell finished third there earlier this season and will enter next week's race hoping for his third straight top-five finish at the track. A statement like that would be a signal that Bell and the No. 20 team are fully on track for the championship fight.

9. Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing No. 45

Last Week: 10

Reddick entered the Daytona race weekend relatively assured of clinching a spot in the playoffs, but things got nervy early when he collided with Todd Gilliland early in the race. That incident was exactly what he didn't want as he chased a playoff spot, but his fortune reversed not too long after when rival Alex Bowman was eliminated from the race. That guaranteed Reddick would advance into the playoff fight, but the remainder of the night at Daytona was still frustrating with a damaged car. In the end, Reddick finished 21st but left the race feeling like he could have had more. It was his fourth finish outside of the top 15 from the last five races and makes him another driver hoping Darlington can reverse his recent trends to get the playoffs started off on the right foot.

10. Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing No. 23

Last Week: 9

After four straight top-10 finishes and a victory, Wallace now faces entering the playoffs coming off of back-to-back finishes outside of the top 25. The good run of form he had going evaporated at one of the worst possible moments. Saturday night, he didn't even make it to the end of the first stage, too. It has not been a good few races for Wallace, but his victory at Indianapolis has him assured of a playoff spot. The question now is whether or not he and the No. 23 team can regain some of what they had through the past month. Results will matter even more from here on out. At Darlington, Wallace has a best finish of fifth from 2023, but he started inside the top five in his last two races at the track but wasn't able to finish in the top 15 either time.

Knocking on the Door

Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports No. 48

Last Week: N/A

Rain washing out qualifying put Bowman on the front row and in prime position to ensure he would remain among the playoff competitors when Saturday night was over. Things looked even brighter when main rival Tyler Reddick was involved in an early crash and took damage. Daytona bit back, though. Before the end of the first stage, Bowman was collected in a big crash that made him a spectator for the rest of the night, sweating out whether or not someone would knock him out of the playoffs.

Daniel Suarez, Trackhouse Racing No. 99

Last Week: N/A

Among the many potential "win and you're in" drivers at the front of the pack at Daytona Saturday night, none came closer to getting the job done than Daniel Suarez. The Trackhouse Racing driver found himself in the right line at the right time as the checkered flag waved, but it wasn't enough to pull off a playoff spot heist. Instead, Suarez's runner-up finish was his second top-five of the year and third top-10 finish in a row. All this coming from a driver who knows he won't be back at Trackhouse next season, too. Connor Zilisch was officially named as Suarez's replacement next season, but Saturday night's race was a good audition to potential employers for Suarez next season. Continuing to add top-10 finishes to his total in the final 10 races would make a strong argument for him to be back in the series next season.

Chris Buescher, RFK Racing No. 17

Last Week: N/A

Despite a valiant effort, Buescher wasn't able to claim the playoff spot he would have liked. The RFK Racing driver made all the right moves and was in contention for the potential walk-off victory until the finish. It wasn't enough in the end, though. After Austin Dillon won at Richmond, it was a tall order for Buescher to revive his playoff hopes. A silver lining to the disappointment is how well he, and the rest of the RFK Racing team, performed Saturday night, though. This is an organization and team that looks capable of getting race wins before the end of the season. Buescher leads the non-playoff standings with teammate Ryan Preece 35 points behind, and Darlington is a track where Buescher could make a statement. He finished in the top 10 there in four of the last five races, and winning next week would not come as a big surprise.